Processor engine, integrated circuit and method therefor

ABSTRACT

A processor engine for affecting a website&#39;s position on at least one Internet search engine&#39;s page ranking comprises at least one processor. The at least one processor is arranged to: load ( 425 ) at least one search term into a program ( 425 ) running on the at least one processor; load ( 445 ) a target list comprising at least one website that is to be promoted; and create ( 420 ) an Internet connection. The at least one processor is further arranged to request a search of the at least one search term on the at least one Internet search engine; identify at least one website search hit that matches at least one website on the target list; and access the identified at least one website a plurality of times, affecting the at least one website&#39;s position on the Internet search engine&#39;s page ranking.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of this invention relates to a processor engine, an integratedcircuit and a method therefor. The invention is applicable to, but notlimited to, a processor engine, an integrated circuit and a method forautomatically promoting a web-site in a search process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving avisibility of a website or a web page in search engines via ‘natural’(without a tariff being imposed) search results. Such natural searchresults are often referred to as ‘organic’ or ‘algorithmic’ searchresults. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search resultspage) and more frequently that a site appears in a search result list,the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. Pagerankings are largely based on the degree of surfer interest and trafficflow, page impressions, freshness, search term density, links in andout, frequency of updates, age of page and other factors.

One disadvantage of generic SEO is that it relies on the search enginerobots ‘finding’ the websites, indexing them and then positioning themon the search engine page ranking. Typical search engine optimisation(SEO) focuses on creation and manipulation of content to existing or newwebsites, both overtly and covertly. These changes make the website morevisible to the search engine robots and, therefore, they are indexedwith specific keywords associated with the website. It is known that SEOmay target different kinds of search, including image search, localsearch, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specificvertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engineswork, what people search for, the actual search terms typed into searchengines and which search engines are preferred by their targetedaudience. Search engines are value neutral, inasmuch as they are notconcerned with truth or reputation. Hence, searches can result inmis-characterisation and damage to the reputation of individuals andbusinesses, if the untruthful websites become more popular than thetruthful websites.

As effective SEO schemes may require changes to the HTML source code ofa site and site content, SEO tactics may be incorporated into websitedevelopment and design. Optimizing a website to improve its rating onwebsite searching typically involves editing its content and hyper-textmark-up language (HTML) and associated coding to both increase itsrelevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexingactivities of search engines. The term ‘search engine friendly’ is alsooften used to describe website designs, content management systems,videos, images, shopping carts, and other elements that have beenoptimized for the purpose of search engine exposure.

In some scenarios, the acronym ‘SEOs’ may also refer to ‘search engineoptimizers’, a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry outoptimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who performSEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as astand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign.

Most users of search engines cease reviewing web-site content at thefirst or second page. Whilst it may be tempting for a person ororganisation to re-engineer, or simply remove, uncomplimentary,defamatory or libellous content, this raises ethical concerns in thefree market for information. One recent tactic for the use of SEOs iswebsite promotion, in order to bring more visitors to specific websites.In recent years, website promotion, say through SEO, has also been usedin the area of on-line reputation protection and/or on-line reputationpromotion, for example to improve product exposure or improve publicrelations for certain celebrities or public figures. Alternativetechniques to SEO are also used for website promotion, such as webcontent development and search engine submission, in order to increase(search) traffic to a site.

One problem with SEO, for example in the context of website promotion,is that SEO requires access to each and every website in order forcertain names, terms or expressions to be promoted. Thus, access to eachof these websites is required in order to make and enforce thenecessary/desired website changes.

Thus, a need exists for at least an apparatus (such as a processorengine/integrated circuit) and method promoting a web-site in a searchprocess, and in particular for a scalable computer-implemented method ofaffecting a website's (URL) position on a search engine(s) page ranking.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention seeks to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate oneor more of the above mentioned disadvantages, either singly or in anycombination. Aspects of the invention provide a processor engine,integrated circuit, and a method therefor, as described in the appendedclaims.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided aprocessor engine for affecting a website's position on at least oneInternet search engine's page ranking, wherein the processor enginecomprises at least one processor. The at least one processor is arrangedto: load at least one search term into a program running on the at leastone processor; load a target list comprising at least one website thatis to be promoted; and create an Internet connection. The at least oneprocessor is further arranged to request a search of the at least onesearch term on the at least one Internet search engine; identify atleast one website search hit that matches at least one website on thetarget list; and access the identified at least one website a pluralityof times, affecting the at least one website's position on the Internetsearch engine's page ranking.

In this manner, no subsequent human intervention is required to affectthe website's position on the at least one Internet search engine's pageranking. Furthermore, in this manner, by accessing the identified atleast one website a plurality of times, flexibility may be provided toenable a decision to be made as to how far up the at least one Internetsearch engine's page ranking the desired website may appear, for examplewithin the first page or the first two pages. In some examples, theprocessor may be arranged to intermittently visit the Internet searchengine and determine the current page ranking of the desired website inorder to identify whether a desired page ranking has been achieved, andif not repeat the process a number of times. In some examples, once adesired page ranking has been achieved, the at least one processor maytransition to another search term, a different language of the samesearch term, a different Internet search engine, another website fromthe target list, etc., in order to further promote the, or another,website

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may befurther arranged to read the target list and access at least one furtherwebsite from one or more remaining, or each of the, read websites to bepromoted, identify at least one website search hit that matches the atleast one further website; and access the identified at least onefurther website a plurality of times, thereby affecting the at least onefurther website's position on the Internet search engine's page ranking.In this manner, a variable and independently set number of websites canbe manipulated such that they appear in a particular order on theInternet search engine's page ranking.

According to an optional feature, the at least one search term maycomprise one from a group comprising: an user-defined search term, apre-defined search term, a word, a plurality of words, a phrase. In thismanner, the process for affecting a website's position on at least oneInternet search engine's page ranking can be dictated by, say, a user.Alternatively, a company's profile or a celebrity's profile may beimproved by using, say, a pre-defined search term of the company's nameor a person's name.

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may bearranged to create a substantially unique, anonymous connection to theInternet (noting that it is ‘substantially unique’ as there is a finiteamount of IP addresses available). In this manner, the Internet searchengine may not be able to recognise the originating (source) IP addressand may only be able to see the IP address provided by, say, theanonymous web proxy application.

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may bearranged to access the identified at least one website a plurality oftimes, by creating a plurality of further connections to the Internet.In some optional examples, a plurality of further connections to theInternet may use at least one different source internet protocol (IP)address. In some optional examples, the at least one different sourceinternet protocol (IP) address may comprise a source IP address from adifferent country. In this manner, the at least one processor may beable to hide or disguise the intention to affect a website's (URL)position on a search engine's page ranking due to the switching betweena plurality of Internet connections.

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may bearranged to request a further search of the at least one search term onthe at least one Internet search engine using a different language ofthe at least one search term. In this manner, the process for affectinga website's position on at least one Internet search engine's pageranking may be re-applied across multiple regions, countries and/orcontinents.

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may befurther arranged to write a log entry into a log file that containsinformation on at least one from a group comprising: date of searchingthe at least one website, date of loading the at least one search term;date of access the at least one website, time of searching the at leastone website; the at least one search term, the at least one target list,at least one source internet protocol (IP) address used. In this manner,a mechanism for tracking searches and results may be made, for exampleto subsequently fine-tune any respective process.

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may beconfined to perform a search within a specified, region, country orcontinent. In this manner, a mechanism for targeting searches andaffecting country-specific page ranking values may be employed, forexample to influence any country-specific perception of the desiredwebsite.

According to an optional feature, any website traffic reporting softwareinstalled on the target websites may report back to one or more searchengine(s) its statistics and therefore affect the ranking of thewebsite. A website that is visited regularly from different countries,using, say, different IP addresses and using, say, different webbrowsers, which is then navigated for a varying duration of times usingdifferent or the same website links, will rate higher than a site thatis not visited.

According to an optional feature, the at least one processor may befurther arranged to navigate around the identified at least one website,before exiting, for at least one from a group comprising: a set periodof time, a random period of time, a search-term dependent period oftime. In this manner, a mechanism for making the process more flexibleis provided. Furthermore, introducing a random time period fornavigation around the website further makes the process difficult todetect and recognise that it is a repeated process by the Internetsearch engine.

According to an optional feature, the processor engine may comprise auser interface, for example a graphical web browser or a non-graphicaltext-based web browser, operably coupled to the at least one processorto facilitate loading at least one from a group comprising: the at leastone search term into the program running on the at least one processor;the target list comprising at least one website that is to be promoted.In this manner, a user-friendly process/mechanism for affecting awebsite's page ranking in an Internet search engine is provided.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided anintegrated circuit for affecting a website's position on at least oneInternet search engine's page ranking. The integrated circuit comprisesat least one processor. The at least one processor is arranged to: loadat least one search term into a program running on the at least oneprocessor; load a target list comprising at least one website that is tobe promoted; and create an Internet connection. The at least oneprocessor is further arranged to request a search of the at least onesearch term on the at least one Internet search engine; identify atleast one website search hit that matches at least one website on thetarget list; and access the identified at least one website a pluralityof times, affecting the at least one website's position on the Internetsearch engine's page ranking.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided methodfor affecting a website's (URL) position on a search engine's pageranking. The method comprises, at a processor, loading at least onesearch term into a program; loading a target list comprising at leastone website that is to be promoted; creating an Internet connection;requesting a search of the at least one search term on the at least oneInternet search engine; identifying at least one website search hit thatmatches at least one website on the target list; and accessing theidentified at least one website a plurality of times, affecting the atleast one website's position on the Internet search engine's pageranking.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided atangible computer program product having executable program code storedtherein for affecting a website's position on at least one Internetsearch engine's page ranking, the program code operable for, whenexecuted at a processor, performing the method according to the thirdaspect of the invention.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from, andelucidated with reference to, the embodiments described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further details, aspects and embodiments of the invention will bedescribed, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings.Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity andhave not necessarily been drawn to scale. Like reference numerals havebeen included in the respective drawings to ease understanding.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of part of a processor-based (computer)system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed example block diagram of a processorengine within a processor-based (computer) system.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of the processor engine.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified flowchart of a method for affecting awebsite's (URL) position on a search engine's page ranking within aprocessor-based (computer) system.

FIG. 5 illustrates a typical computing system that may be employed toimplement signal processing functionality in example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some examples of the invention will be described in terms of computerprogram that performs a scalable computer-implemented method ofaffecting a website's (e.g. URL) position on a search engine's pageranking. In particular, examples of the invention may merely scanpre-existing information and re-order the information, such that pagerankings may be re-ordered whilst leaving content intact. Favourableand/or more balanced web sites may then be manipulated to displace andrank higher than negative sites and/or less balanced web sites.

In some examples, a user specified word, words or phrase may be providedto at least one search engine, for example by at least one processor ina processor engine. The at least one processor may use the search engineto perform a search of the user specified word, words or phrase. Fromthe list of search hits provided by the search engine, the at least oneprocessor may only select the ‘hits’, say from a target list, which maybe also defined by the user. In some examples, the at least oneprocessor may then access the one or more website, multiple times. Theprocess of performing this associates the user specified word, words orphrase with at least one desired website, and therefore increases the atleast one website's page rank within the search engine, thereby makingthe user-selected website more visible to users of the search engine.

In this manner, the at least one processor in a processor engine mayenable a user to specify an user specified search term in the form of aword, words or phrase, and provide these via, say, a web browser to atleast one Internet search engine and perform a search. Then, for exampleusing a list of user-specified/preferred websites, the at least oneprocessor in a processor engine may be arranged to only select thewebsites of interest from the search engine ‘hits’. In subsequentlyaccessing these websites, an association between the search terms andthe websites may be created and/or the website(s) page ranking on theInternet search engine may be affected. In some examples of the presentinvention, the at least one processor in a processor engine may bearranged to access the website and automatically navigate around thewebsite for a period of time, in order to register ‘sufficient’activity/interest in the web-site according to any Internet searchengine rules, before the program exits. The at least one processor in aprocessor engine may then select a new IP address, for example from adifferent country, and in some examples perhaps using the search termsin a different language and repeats the process.

In some examples, an advantage over the current known method ofassociating search terms with a website and then promoting that websiteis that the present invention does not require access to, and/or changesmade to, the existing website. Furthermore, examples of the presentinvention require no relationship with the website to be promoted, whichcan be advantageously provided in any location, in any country, on theInternet.

In some examples, the invention may be performed in hardware orfirmware. In some examples, a processor or processor-based system withan Internet connection capability may provide a substantially anonymousautomatic method to influence search terms to a search engine(s) andadapt the specific search hits returned, in order to select specificwebsites/URLs. The substantially anonymous automatic method (andapparatus therefor) may therefore influence a user to visit thesewebsites/URLs, therefore promoting the selected websites/URLs.

Some examples of the invention require no access ormodifications/changes to the websites to be promoted. Furthermore, someexamples of the invention do not require the content of the websites tobe promoted to be dynamic or updated regularly. For example, embodimentsof the invention enable processing of both new content and pre-existingcontent, e.g. a public relations company generating a new Times-Onlinearticle as well as traffic to a relevant pre-existing website that mayhave been, say, pushed back to page 10 of a page ranking due to therebeing no/few visits for a long period of time. Thus, traffic may begenerated to both the new site and the old pre-existing site and bothpromoted. Hence, some examples of the invention may therefore satisfythe present demand for re-ordering search engine page rankings, whilstleaving the content of a website intact. Some examples of the inventionmay achieve this benefit by merely scanning pre-existing information andre-ordering it. In this manner, the present invention may be able topromote any website, located anywhere in the world, and make it morevisible by increasing its search engine ranking. No access orrelationship with the website is required in order to promote itsranking higher in a ranking list. One consequence of this may be morefavourable and/or more balanced web sites being selected and thus rankedhigher than negative sites. In this manner, examples of the presentinvention may also be used as a reputation, product or service promotiontool.

In some examples, the processor engine or processor-based system (suchas a computer system) may run at least an equivalent of an Intel™Pentium™ based processor or equivalent, preferably with a memorycapacity of, say, 1 Gbyte and hard drive capacity of 10 Gbyte. In someexamples, the processor engine may utilise a keyboard and/or mouse. Thecomputer or processor engine requires a network connection to theInternet. In some examples, the processor engine may be remotelycontrolled, for example through a web-interface, etc. from any suitableelectronic device, e.g. from a dummy PC. In this example, the processorengine may not necessarily require direct connection with a keyboardand/or mouse.

In some examples of the present invention, the computer or processorengine may employ a version or derivative of the Linux Operating System.However, in other examples, the invention may be performed usingsubstantially any other present day Operating System.

In some examples of the present invention, an Internet web browser maybe installed along with an anonymous web proxy application and browserspecific plugin. The anonymous proxy application software may beinstalled in the processor engine and, in some examples in conjunctionwith a browser plugin as an optional extra to the browser. In someexamples, the anonymous proxy application software creates an anonymousrelay or circuit to the Internet and to the desired search engine ortarget website. This circuit may be at a network routing level tofacilitate the Internet connection, and thus not at a graphical level.In some examples, the browser plugin enables the web browser, either viaa graphical or text version, to utilise this anonymous circuit using,say, hyper-text transfer protocol (HTTP) etc., and to provide thefacility to turn ‘on’ or ‘off’ the anonymous function for the browser'suse.

In some examples of the present invention, the processor engine may beable to associate specified search terms and website(s)/URLs on one ormore search engine(s) and then select only specific website(s)/URLs fromthe resultant search hits, thereby increasing the visibility of thespecified website(s)/URLs on search engine page ranking.

In some examples, the processor(s) may be programmed to automaticallywait a random period of time, select a different source IP address, exitthe program and thereafter repeat the process.

In some examples, a user may be able to specify a selection of Internetsearch engine(s) and/or search terms, to be used, which could be theword(s) or phrase that will be entered into a search engine. In someexamples, a user is also able to specify a selection of website(s) thatare to be promoted, in a form of a target list, which will be thewebsite(s) whose promotion in the search engines' ranking is desired.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example of part of a processor-based(computer) system 100 is illustrated. A processor engine 105 is arrangedto receive (in communication 115) one or more search criteria from aclient search request/client input 110. Such a communication 115 may beperformed locally or remotely with a wired or wireless connectionto/from the processor engine 105. The processor engine 105 may compriseat least one processor (not shown), which is/are arranged to load the atleast one search term into a program running on the at least oneprocessor. In addition, a target list 125, comprising for example one ormore target website(s) 130 (e.g. designated by uniform resource locators(URLs)) are loaded 120 into the processor engine 105. The processor maythen load the target list 125 comprising at least one website 130 thatis to be promoted. The processor engine 105 creates an Internetconnection and accesses 135 the Internet 140, and in some examples,accesses at least one Internet search engine therein. From there, theprocessor engine 105 is able to access 145 a number (and potentially avery large number) of website(s)/URLs 150 related to the searchterms/criteria. The processor is further arranged to request a search ofthe at least one search term on the at least one Internet search engineand identify at least one website search hit that matches at least onewebsite on the target list 125. In some examples, the identification ofat least one website search hit that matches at least one website on thetarget list 125 may include at least one website that protects orenhances a reputation of an individual or company, as compared to onethat denigrates the individual or company. As such, by targetingwebsite(s) that protect(s) or enhance(s) a reputation of an individualor company, a relatively positive view of the individual or company maybe more readily seen from an Internet user accessing information on thatindividual or company. Alternatively, it is also possible to target oneor more website(s) that indicates truthful facts about, say, anindividual or company, which may not necessarily enhance(s) thatindividual's or company's reputation but may offer a more balanced view.Taken to the extreme, a relatively negative, but more accurate, view ofthe individual or company may be more readily seen from an Internet useraccessing information on that individual or company.

The processor is further arranged to access the identified at least onewebsite a plurality of times, thereby affecting the at least onewebsite's position on the Internet search engine's page ranking. In someexamples, the processor may be arranged to navigate around the websitefor a period of time 155. The period of time 155 may be a set period oftime or a random period of time, so long as it is sufficient to registerthe processor's access of the website as being one of interest, therebymaking it difficult for the Internet search engine to detect that theaccess was an automated process or one focused on raising the visibilityof the website by affecting the websites page ranking on the Internetsearch engine.

Thereafter, the processor may be arranged to access the identified atleast one website a plurality of times, by repeating the process 160. Insome examples, the processor may create a plurality of furtherconnections to the Internet. In some examples, a plurality of furtherconnections to the Internet may use at least one different sourceinternet protocol (IP) address. In some examples, the at least onedifferent source internet protocol (IP) address may comprise a source IPaddress from a different country. In this manner, the at least oneprocessor may be able to hide or disguise the intention to affect awebsite's (URL) position on a search engine's page ranking due to theswitching between a plurality of Internet connections.

In some examples of the invention, the processor engine 105 may beconfigured to support language-specific searches. For example, shouldthe processor engine 105 identify the country associated with an IPaddress (preferably an anonymous IP address) that it has been assigned,the processor engine 105 may automatically change the browser settingsto use the same country specific language in order to perform anyon-going search(s) and/or website(s) browsing. Thus, and advantageously,this feature may be implemented within the processor engine 105regardless of where in the world the processor engine 105 is located. Inone example, the processor engine 105 may detect, say, a German IPaddress and could change the browser settings to use the Germanlanguage. Thereafter, the processor engine 105 may be configured to usea German language search engine in order to perform any search(s) andaccess any website(s) matches.

Furthermore, in some examples, the processor engine 105 may performcountry-specific searches. In this example, the processor engine 105 maybe configured to perform all searches and website visits within one ormore specified countries, regions or continents. In some examples, theprocessor engine 105 may be configured to use only anonymous IPaddresses that have been assigned to a specific country. Thereafter, theprocessor engine 105 may be configured to automatically change thebrowser settings to use the same country specific language and toperform all searches only on search engines within that country, and/oronly access one or more website(s) within that country. Thus, andadvantageously, this feature may be implemented within the processorengine 105 regardless of where in the world the processor engine 105 islocated. In one example, the processor engine 105 may be configured tooperate only, say, within France. In one example, the processor engine105 may be configured to detect only French anonymous IP addresses andthen change the browser to use French language. The processor engine 105may then use a French language search engine to perform any search(s)and access any website(s) matches, whilst staying within the boundariesof France.

Additionally and advantageously, in some examples, the processor engine105 may be configured to perform browser switching, as the processorengine 105 does not rely on any specific web browser. In this example,the processor engine 105 may have the capability to switch its browsermake, version and/or language on demand or randomly. This provides theprocessor engine 105 with the ability to simulate any user or countryspecific profile.

Furthermore, in some examples, the processor engine 105 may beconfigured to perform website navigation. In this example, the processorengine 105 may be configured to perform the search in the normal manner,but when the processor engine 105 accesses the one or more identifiedwebsite(s) (e.g. as specified in the target list), the processor engine105 is configured to automatically navigate through a portion or theentire website, selecting, say, some or all specified links, e.g. for aset or random period of time.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a more detailed example block diagram of aprocessor engine within a processor-based (computer) system 200 isillustrated. In some examples of the present invention, a processorengine 205 comprises one or more processors 208, 209, which may beconfigured to affect a website's (URL) position on a search engine'spage ranking by running, for example, a software program from theoperating system. In some examples, an operating system may load aprogram into a computer memory. In some examples, the processor engine205 may be arranged to create a substantially anonymous connection tothe Internet 215. In some examples, one or more search terms may be read225 from a search list 220 and loaded into the program in computermemory. In some examples, these search terms may be of a form of a word,words or phrase. In one example, an Internet web browser 235 is started230 and the program ensures that the processor (or computer) connects240 to an Internet search engine 238 (or number of search engines) ofinterest.

In some examples, user-defined search terms may be provided, say via theweb browser 235, to the Internet search engine (or number of searchengines) and a search requested. The resultant search ‘hits’ are routedto the processor engine 205 by the search engine(s) 238 and, in someexamples, displayed/read. In 255, the program loads one or morewebsite(s) and a target list that is to be associated with the searchterms and that are to be promoted. Thereafter, the program reads orextracts those one or more website(s) from the list of search ‘hits’ 260provided by the search engine(s) 238, e.g. the ‘hits’, that match thoseprovided by the target list. The Internet web browser then reads thetarget list provided in 250 and accesses 265 one or more of theremaining, or each of the, websites 270.

In communication 258, a log entry may be written to a log file 275 bythe program performed on the one or more processor(s) 208, 209, wherebythe log file may contain information about, say, date and time, thesearch terms and target list and the source IP address used. In someexamples, this information may be used for management reporting andanalysis. The program may determine whether to navigate to the nextwebsite 270. In this manner, the program is able to transition througheach of the websites defined by the target list 250. In some examples,this successive transitioning between websites may be continued for afixed time, say controlled by timer 212. In some examples, thissuccessive transitioning between websites may be continued for a randomperiod of time, thereby making it more difficult for the Internet searchengine to detect the website as having been accessed by the sameprocessor engine 205 (or processor 208, 209) multiple times.

If no more of the identified websites 270 to be accessed exist, theprogram may exit, close the web browser and the anonymous Internetconnection. The process may then re-start from 205. For example, the atleast one processor 208, 209 may be arranged to access the identified atleast one website a plurality of times, by creating a plurality offurther connections to the Internet.

In some optional examples, a plurality of further connections to theInternet may use at least one different source internet protocol (IP)address. This provides the processor engine 205 with the ability to‘simulate’ (inasmuch as it is recognised by an internet search engine) aplurality of individual users clicking on an internet link. In someoptional examples, the at least one different source internet protocol(IP) address may comprise a source IP address from a different country.In this manner, the at least one processor may be able to hide ordisguise the intention to affect a website's (URL) position on a searchengine's page ranking due to the switching between a plurality ofInternet connections.

In some examples, a communications interface to the one or moreprocessor(s) 208, 209 is provided, and may comprise an SEO portal 285,which may be an Internet facing secure portal used for access to theprocessor engine 205. In some examples, the SEO portal 285 may allowconfiguration of new search terms and website(s) to be visited/accessed.In this manner, any Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) user or company maybe provided with the capability to manage a number of processor engines205 or servers, as defined, say, by their respective license agreement.In some examples, the SEO portal may provide any systemadministrator/user with the capability to manage any number of processorengines 205 or processors 208, 209, located anywhere in the world andpermit configuration of these to perform searches and websitevisits/accesses. A subset of the statistics and management informationrelating to the SEO may also be available to view, export and print vialink 280. Although in the illustrated example the SEO portal is showndistal from the processor engine 205, in some examples, the SEO portal285 may reside within the processor engine 205.

In some examples, a communications controller (not shown) may also becoupled to application modules 290 or software programs to allow varioususers (e.g. companies or individuals) access 295 to the processor engine205 via any suitable means.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a simplified block diagram of the processorengine 105 is illustrated. In this example, the processor engine 105comprises a plurality of processors, with only two processors 208, 209shown for clarity purposes only. The processor engine 105 furthercomprises a memory 310, which in some examples is used for storingsearch terms, language-specific data, country-specific data, web-browserrelated data, Internet search engine related data, etc. The processorengine 105 further comprises a communications controller 340, operablycoupled to a web portal 335, which in some examples is used for remoteaccess of the processor engine 105. In some examples, the communicationscontroller 340 is operably coupled to communications interface 345, forinterfacing with the Internet, and in some examples an Internet searchengine.

The processor engine 105 further comprises a user interface 315, whichmay comprise a touch screen and/or keyboard, and/or mouse, etc. forinterfacing with a user. In some examples, user interface 315 maycomprise an administrator control panel, which provides an Internetfacing secure portal that may be used for access to the processor engine105 to allow configuration of new search terms and website(s) to bevisited/accessed. In some examples, the administrator control panel mayprovide any system administrator/user with the capability to manage anynumber of processor engines 105 or processors 208, 209 located anywherein the world and permit configuration of these to perform searches andwebsite visits/accesses. All statistics and management information willalso be available to view, export and print.

In some examples, user interface 315 may comprise an user Portal, whichmay be an Internet facing secure portal to be used for access to theprocessor engine 105 to allow an end user to view any progress and pageranking of their particular search term(s) and website(s). This userPortal may also provide the user or company with a capability to viewuser specific statistics and management information, which may also beavailable to view, export and print

The processor engine 105 further comprises a timer module 160, operablycoupled to an internal data log module 325 and/or an external data logmodule 330, which in some examples is used as a reporting tool foractivities performed by the processor engine 105.

In some examples, the data log module 325, 330 may be used to gatherstatistics and management information as well as to generate, saymonthly or on-demand reports that can be provided to users/clients. Insome examples, the statistics and management information may beconstructed from one or more of the following: the search terms(s) used,website(s) visited, time and date of a website access, one or moresource IP address(es) used, country(/ies) visited from, language(s)used, browser(s) used, and the number of total visits within a periodof, say, one month, or as defined, and the page rank of the website(s)of interest per search engine.

In this example, the processor engine 105 comprises an integratedcircuit 305 that may be located in a computer-system or processing-basedsystem. In other examples, the integrated circuit may solely comprisethe processor engine 105, or one or more of the processors 208, 209,with other components provided in distinct circuits or furtherintegrated circuits or memory ICs, etc.

In some examples, the communications controller 340 may also be coupledto application modules 350 or software programs. In one example, theapplication module(s) 350 may comprise a smartphone Administrator App,which may be used as a smartphone application in order to provide accessto the processor engine 105 to allow configuration of new search termsand website(s) to be visited/accessed. In some examples, the applicationmodules 350 may provide any system administrator or user the capabilityto manage any number of processor engines 105 or servers locatedanywhere in the world and permit configuration of these to performsearches and website visits. All statistics and management informationwill also be available to view.

In one example, the application module(s) 350 may comprise a smartphoneSEO App, which may be used for access to the processor engine 105 toallow configuration of new search terms and website(s) to be visited.The smartphone SEO App may provide any Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)user or company the capability to manage a number of processor engines105 or servers, as defined by their respective license agreement.Advantageously, the smartphone SEO App may be located anywhere in theworld and permit configuration of program variables in order to performsearches and access one or more websites. A subset of the statistics andmanagement information relating the SEO may also be available to view.

In one example, the application module(s) 350 may comprise a smartphoneUser App, which may be used for access to the processor engine 105 toallow an end user to see progress and page ranking of their particularsearch term(s) and website(s). The smartphone User App may provide theuser or company the capability to view user specific statistics andmanagement information, which may also be available to view, export andprint.

In some examples, the processor engine 105 may be configured to supportwebsite detection and cloning. In this example, the processor engine 105may be configured to not only automatically search for specifiedkeyword(s) and then visit/access a predefined or search engine resultwebsite(s) with a view to promotion of the website(s), but the processorengine 105 may visit/access these website(s) to create an actual copy ofall websites visited. In this regard, the processor engine 105 may beconfigured to perform a recursive ‘HTTP GET’ operation, which in essencemeans that the processor engine 105 visits a website and follows everylink on the website, saves each and every link and copies and savesevery picture and document. The processor engine 105 may then create alocal folder (directory) on the initiating machine and copy the savedfiles in a way that a user is able to go to the folder, open theindex.html (first page) and view the site (off-line) as if was theoriginal website, but where no internet connection is required. Freelyavailable versions of a product that supports website cloning exist, andare incorporated herein by reference, including HTTRACK (www dot httackdot com) or Website Extractor (http colon double back-slash www dotoffline-browser dot com). In this example, the processor engine 105 hasthe capability to make an entire copy of any website containing thesesearch terms. For example the processor engine 105 may be configured tomonitor for the existence of certain intellectual property or sensitiveinformation that should not exist on the Internet, but if detectedautomatically makes a clone of any websites found for subsequentinvestigation/analysis.

In some examples of the present invention, the processor engine 105 maybe configured to work with an installed Internet web browser and/or withan anonymous web proxy application and browser specific plugin. In thisregard, the processor engine 105 may utilize many websites all over theworld that offer free and open (un-authenticated) re-routing of HTTPrequests. This means that a user's web browser uses some softwareinstalled on their computer that allows connections to one of theseanonymous web proxy applications that, in effect, act as ‘relays’. Therelay then connects to the target website, thus hiding the originatingusers source IP address. Once the software has been installed on theuser's computer the ‘anonymous relay’ function can be turned ‘on’ or‘off’ by clicking on a software switch that uses a browser plugin inorder to use (or not use) the ‘anonymous’ option in the web proxyapplications. Commercial applications that offer this functionalityinclude PROXIFY (www dot proxify dot com) and A4PROXY (www dotinetprivacy dot com back-slash a4proxy) the general teaching of which isincorporated herein by reference.

In some examples of the present invention, the processor engine 105 maybe configured to create a connection to the Internet that issubstantially unique (noting that there is a finite amount of IPaddresses available) and anonymous. In this manner, the Internet searchengine may not be able to recognise the originating (source) IP addressand may only be able to see the IP address provided by the anonymous webproxy application. In this manner, any processor or processor engine orcomputer running software according to the claimed invention may connectto the internet using different anonymous proxies going to the samesearch engine or website and even though the originating IP address isthe same the search engine or website believes it to be different everyvisit In some optional examples, such anonymous IP addresses are usedrandomly so that no footprint from a single IP address is left.

In some examples of the present invention, as illustrated in theflowchart 400 of FIG. 4, a method for affecting a website's (URL)position on a search engine's page ranking is initiated by running, forexample, a software program from the operating system. The methodcommences in 410, and in 415 the operating system loads a program into acomputer memory. In 420, a program stored in a processor is arranged tocreate a substantially anonymous connection to the Internet. In thiscontext, a processor or processor engine ‘simulates’ (inasmuch as it isrecognised by an internet search engine) a new individual user clickingon an internet link, using an anonymous source IP address, a differentcountry from the true originating country of the connection, etc. In425, one or more search terms are read and loaded into the program. Insome examples, these search terms may be of a form of a word, words orphrase. In one example, as shown in 430, an Internet web browser isstarted and the program ensures that the processor (or computer)connects to an Internet search engine (or number of search engines) ofinterest.

In 435, user-defined search terms may be provided, say via the webbrowser, to the Internet search engine (or number of search engines) anda search requested. The resultant search ‘hits’ are displayed in 440 bythe search engine(s) and read. In 442, a user or subscriber may beprovided with an opportunity to enter one or more website(s) and/or atarget list that is to be promoted. In 445, the program loads one ormore website(s) and a target list that is to be associated with thesearch terms and that are to be promoted. Thereafter, in 450, theProgram reads or extracts those one or more website(s) from the list ofsearch ‘hits’ provided by the search engine(s) in 440, e.g. the ‘hits’,that match those provided by the target list.

In 452, the program may optionally generate a link to the one or more ofthe remaining, or each of the, website(s) using the search engine. Forexample, in some embodiments, the search engine may generate a list of‘hits’ based on the submitted search terms, and from this list the oneor more processors may select the hits (e.g. websites) that match thetarget list. If the target list URL is not on the list of hits from thesearch engine results we go to it anyway. In some examples, theapproach/method taken is to employ the search engine to generate a linkto the sites that are selected or provided, per the target list. Thesearch engine, when asked for this link, generates a link that isassociated with the submitted one or more search term(s) and includes,for example, the target list URL. Therefore, in this manner, anassociation is made by the search engine between the search terms, thesearch process and the target website. The association, and subsequentaccess of the search engine's link, has a bearing on the target listwebsite's page ranking. Advantageously, the link access is from thesearch engine and, thus, any analysis of the access is not directlyassociated with the user/source IP address. In 455, the Internet webbrowser then reads the target list provided in 450 and accesses one ormore of the remaining, or each of the, website(s).

In 460, a log entry may be written to a log file by the program, wherebythe log file may contain information about, say, date and time, thesearch terms and target list and the source IP address used. In someexamples, this information may be used for management reporting andanalysis, as shown in 465. In 470, the program may determine whether tonavigate to the next website and return to 455. In this manner, theprogram is able to transition 475 through each of the websites definedby the target list. In some examples, this successive transitioningbetween websites may be continued for a fixed time. In some examples,this successive transitioning between websites may be continued for, saya random period of time. If no more of the identified websites to beaccessed exist, in 470, the program exits in 480, closes the web browserand the anonymous Internet connection. The process may then re-startfrom 415, 420, 425 or 430.

Thus, in a number of applications, the processor engine 105 may, inaccordance with examples of the invention, effectively perform a methodfor affecting a website's (URL) position on a search engine's pageranking. The method comprises loading 425 at least one search term intoa program 425; loading 445 a target list comprising at least one websitethat is to be promoted; creating 420 an Internet connection; requestinga search of the at least one search term on the at least one Internetsearch engine; identifying at least one website search hit that matchesat least one website on the target list; and accessing the identified atleast one website a plurality of times, affecting the at least onewebsite's position on the Internet search engine's page ranking.

In this manner, given the automatic nature of the at least oneprocessor's accessing and navigating around one or more websites, nosubsequent human intervention is required to affect the website'sposition on at least one Internet search engine's page ranking.Furthermore, in this manner, by accessing the identified at least onewebsite a plurality of times, flexibility may be provided to enable adecision to be made as to how far up the at least one Internet searchengine's page ranking the desired website may appear, for example in thefirst page or at least in the first two pages. In some examples, theprocessor may be arranged to intermittently visit the Internet searchengine and determine the current page ranking of the desired website inorder to identify whether a desired page ranking has been achieved, andif not repeat the process one or more times. In some examples, once adesired page ranking has been achieved, the at least one processor maytransition to another search term, a different language of the samesearch term, a different Internet search engine, another website fromthe target list, etc.

Thus, in some examples, a method is described that provides a userspecified word, words or phrase to a search engine(s), uses a searchengine to perform a search, but from the lists of search hits providedby the search engine only selects the ‘hits’ defined by the user andaccesses the match website(s). In one example, the process associatesthe user specified word, words or phrase with the desired website(s) andtherefore increases the website(s) page rank within the search enginemaking it more visible. In some examples, the accessed website may benavigated for a period of time before the program exits, selects a newIP address and repeats the process.

In some examples, the number of times a website can be visited can bespecified once, a pre-determined number of times and/or indefinitely.The user has the option for the website to be visited once only andexit, a given number of times, say 100, and then exit or runcontinuously until either stopped by the user when the page rankingmeets a pre-defined position. In this manner, the user may be providedwith an ability, either directly or remotely, say via the smartphoneUser App, to control or cap a number of times that a website isaccessed. Additionally, in this manner, with a user provided with, say,the smartphone User App as well as access to search engines, the user isprovided with an ability to control the number of times a website isaccessed and therefore a relative order of a plurality of websiteswithin a search engine page ranking, by stopping or starting respectivewebsite promotion processes to raise their individual rankings by adesired amount.

Advantageously, in some example embodiments, in contrast to the knowncurrent method of associating search terms with a website, and/ormodifying the content of the website, and then promoting that website,the present invention does not require modification of the existingwebsite in order to make changes to its ranking. Indeed, aspects of thepresent invention require no relationship with the website that is to bepromoted, which advantageously can be provided in any location on theInternet.

The technical features currently employed by the present inventioninclude a graphical browser. In some examples, the graphical browser maybe replaced with a non-graphical text-based web browser.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a typical computing system500 that may be employed to implement signal processing functionality inembodiments of the invention. Computing systems of this type may be usedin wired or wireless communication units. Those skilled in the relevantart will also recognize how to implement the invention using othercomputer systems or architectures. Computing system 500 may represent,for example, a desktop, laptop or notebook computer, hand-held computingdevice (PDA, cell phone, palmtop, etc.), mainframe, server, client, orany other type of special or general purpose computing device as may bedesirable or appropriate for a given application or environment.Computing system 500 can include one or more processors, such as aprocessor 504. Processor 504 can be implemented using a general orspecial-purpose processing engine such as, for example, amicroprocessor, microcontroller or other control module. In thisexample, processor 504 is connected to a bus 502 or other communicationsmedium.

Computing system 500 can also include a main memory 508, such as randomaccess memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, for storing information andinstructions to be executed by processor 504. Main memory 508 also maybe used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions to be executed by processor504. Computing system 500 may likewise include a read only memory (ROM)or other static storage device coupled to bus 502 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 504.

The computing system 500 may also include information storage system510, which may include, for example, a media drive 512 and a removablestorage interface 520. The media drive 512 may include a drive or othermechanism to support fixed or removable storage media, such as a harddisk drive, a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical diskdrive, a compact disc (CD) or digital video drive (DVD) read or writedrive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive. Storage media518 may include, for example, a hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, CD or DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is readby and written to by media drive 512. As these examples illustrate, thestorage media 518 may include a computer-readable storage medium havingparticular computer software or data stored therein.

In alternative embodiments, information storage system 510 may includeother similar components for allowing computer programs or otherinstructions or data to be loaded into computing system 500. Suchcomponents may include, for example, a removable storage unit 522 and aninterface 520, such as a program cartridge and cartridge interface, aremovable memory (for example, a flash memory or other removable memorymodule) and memory slot, and other removable storage units 522 andinterfaces 520 that allow software and data to be transferred from theremovable storage unit 518 to computing system 500.

Computing system 500 can also include a communications interface 524.Communications interface 524 can be used to allow software and data tobe transferred between computing system 500 and external devices.Examples of communications interface 524 can include a modem, a networkinterface (such as an Ethernet or other NIC card), a communications port(such as for example, a universal serial bus (USB) port), a PCMCIA slotand card, etc. Software and data transferred via communicationsinterface 524 are in the form of signals which can be electronic,electromagnetic, and optical or other signals capable of being receivedby communications interface 524. These signals are provided tocommunications interface 524 via a channel 528. This channel 528 maycarry signals and may be implemented using a wireless medium, wire orcable, fibre optics, or other communications medium. Some examples of achannel include a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link, anetwork interface, a local or wide area network, and othercommunications channels.

In this document, the terms ‘computer program product’,‘computer-readable medium’ and the like may be used generally to referto tangible media such as, for example, memory 508, storage device 518,or storage unit 522. These and other forms of computer-readable mediamay store one or more instructions for use by processor 504, to causethe processor to perform specified operations. Such instructions,generally referred to as ‘computer program code’ (which may be groupedin the form of computer programs or other groupings), when executed,enable the computing system 500 to perform functions of embodiments ofthe present invention. Note that the code may directly cause theprocessor to perform specified operations, be compiled to do so, and/orbe combined with other software, hardware, and/or firmware elements(e.g., libraries for performing standard functions) to do so.

In an embodiment where the elements are implemented using software, thesoftware may be stored in a computer-readable medium and loaded intocomputing system 500 using, for example, removable storage drive 522,drive 512 or communications interface 524. The control module (in thisexample, software instructions or executable computer program code),when executed by the processor 504, causes the processor 504 to performthe functions of the invention as described herein.

Furthermore, the inventive concept can be applied to any circuit forperforming signal processing functionality within a network element. Itis further envisaged that, for example, a semiconductor manufacturer mayemploy the inventive concept in a design of a stand-alone device, suchas a microcontroller of a digital signal processor (DSP), orapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and/or any othersub-system element.

It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above descriptionhas described embodiments of the invention with reference to a singlesignal processing module. However, the inventive concept may equally beimplemented by way of a plurality of different functional units andprocessors to provide the signal processing functionality. Accordingly,it will be understood that the term ‘signal processing module’ usedherein is intended to encompass one or more signal processing functionalunits, circuits and/or processors. Thus, references to specificfunctional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means forproviding the described functionality, rather than indicative of astrict logical or physical structure or organization.

Aspects of the invention may be implemented in any suitable formincluding hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Theinvention may optionally be implemented, at least partly, as computersoftware running on one or more data processors and/or digital signalprocessors or configurable module components such as field programmablegate array (FPGA) devices. Thus, the elements and components of anembodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally andlogically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality maybe implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part ofother functional units.

Although the present invention has been described in connection withsome embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific formset forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limitedonly by the accompanying claims. Additionally, although a feature mayappear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, oneskilled in the art would recognize that various features of thedescribed embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention.In the claims, the term ‘comprising’ does not exclude the presence ofother elements or steps.

Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means,elements or method steps may be implemented by, for example, a singleunit or processor. Additionally, although individual features may beincluded in different claims, these may possibly be advantageouslycombined, and the inclusion in different claims does not imply that acombination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Also, theinclusion of a feature in one category of claims does not imply alimitation to this category, but rather indicates that the feature isequally applicable to other claim categories, as appropriate.

Furthermore, and as would be appreciated by a skilled person, the orderof features in the claims, does not imply any specific order in whichthe features must be performed and in particular the order of individualsteps in a method claim does not imply that the steps must be performedin this order. Rather, the steps may be performed in any suitable order.In addition, singular references do not exclude a plurality. Thus,references to ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘first’, ‘second’, etc. do not preclude aplurality.

Thus, an improved method and apparatus for affecting a website'sposition on at least one Internet search engine's page ranking have beendescribed, wherein the aforementioned disadvantages with prior artarrangements have been substantially alleviated.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system configured to affect a website'sposition on an Internet search engine's page ranking, the systemcomprising: one or more processors configured to: load at least onesearch term into a program running on the one or more processors; load atarget list comprising at least one website that is to be promoted;create a first simulated user session, wherein creating a simulated usersession comprises: determining a first geographical location;implementing a first simulated user session having characteristicsassociated with the first geographical location; creating a firstsubstantially unique, anonymous connection to the Internet, wherein thefirst connection is simulated to originate from the determined firstgeographical location; requesting a search of the at least one searchterm on the at least one Internet search engine; receiving, from the atleast one Internet search engine, search results comprising websitesearch hits; identifying at least one of the website search hits thatmatches at least one website on the target list; accessing using thefirst simulated user session the identified at least one website throughthe search results through the first Internet connection having asimulated origin in the determined first geographical location, withoutmodifying website content, wherein such access without modifying websitecontent affects the at least one website's position on the Internetsearch engine's page ranking; create a second simulated user session,wherein creating a simulated user session comprises: determining asecond geographical location; implementing a second simulated usersession having characteristics associated with the second geographicallocation; creating a second substantially unique, anonymous connectionto the Internet, wherein the second connection is simulated to originatefrom the determined second geographical location; requesting a search ofthe at least one search term on the at least one Internet search engine;receiving, from the at least one Internet search engine, search resultscomprising website search hits; identifying at least one of the websitesearch hits that matches at least one website on the target list; andaccessing using the second simulated user session the identified atleast one website through the search results through the second Internetconnection having a simulated origin in the determined secondgeographical location, without modifying website content, wherein suchaccess without modifying website content affects the at least onewebsite's position on the Internet search engine's page ranking.
 2. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to automatically access the identified at least onewebsite a plurality of times.
 3. The system according to claim 1,wherein the one or more processors are further configured to read thetarget list and access at least one further website from one or moreremaining, or each of the, read websites to be promoted, identify atleast one of the website search hits that match the at least one furtherwebsite; and access the identified at least one further website aplurality of times, affecting the at least one further website'sposition on the Internet search engine's page ranking.
 4. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one search term comprises onefrom a group comprising: an user-defined search term, a pre-definedsearch term, a word, a plurality of words, a phrase, a company name, aperson's name.
 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the one ormore processors are further configured to create a substantially unique,anonymous connection to the Internet.
 6. The system according to Claim1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to accessthe identified at least one website a plurality of times, by creating aplurality of further connections to the Internet.
 7. The systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to create a plurality of further connections to the Internetusing at least one different source internet protocol (IP) address. 8.The system according to claim 7, wherein the at least one differentsource internet protocol (IP) address comprises a source IP address fromone or more of a different country and/or geographical location.
 9. Thesystem according to claim 7, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to request a further search of the at least onesearch term on the at least one Internet search engine using a differentlanguage of the at least one search term.
 10. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured towrite a log entry into a log file that contains information on at leastone from a group comprising: date of searching the at least one website,date of loading the at least one search term; date of access the atleast one website, time of searching the at least one website; the atleast one search term, the at least one target list, at least one sourceinternet protocol (IP) address used, a language of the at least onesearch term, a source IP address country.
 11. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured torequest that the search be confined to a specified, region, country orcontinent.
 12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to execute an anonymous proxyapplication software module arranged to create an anonymous relay to oneor more of the Internet, the at least one Internet search engine, or atleast one website.
 13. The system according to claim 1, wherein the oneor more processors are further configured to navigate automaticallyaround the identified at least one website before exiting.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 13, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to navigate automatically around the identified atleast one website for one or more of a set period of time, a randomperiod of time, or a search-term dependent period of time.
 15. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to define a user interface that is configured toreceive one or both of the at least one search term into the programrunning on the at least one processor and/or the target list comprisingat least one website that is to be promoted.
 16. The system according toclaim 15, wherein the user interface comprises one or both of agraphical web browser and/or a non-graphical text-based web browser. 17.The system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to execute one or more of a Linux derived operatingsystem, a Windows®-based operating system, or an Apple® MAC-basedoperating system.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the characteristicsof the first simulated user session associated with the firstgeographical location and/or country include one or more of a languageof the first geographical location and/or country, an operating systemused in the first geographical location and/or country, and/or acomputer type used to access the Internet in the first geographicallocation and/or country and wherein the characteristics of the secondsimulated user session associated with the second geographical locationand/or country include one or more of a language of the secondgeographical location and/or country, an operating system used in thesecond geographical location and/or country, and/or a computer type usedto access the Internet in the second geographical location and/orcountry.
 19. Non-transient electronic storage storing machine readableinstructions configured to cause one or more processors to perform amethod for affecting a website's position on at least one Internetsearch engine's page ranking, wherein the method comprises: loading atleast one search term into a program running on the one or moreprocessors in the simulated user session; loading a target listcomprising at least one website that is to be promoted; creating a firstsimulated user session, wherein creating a first simulated user sessioncomprises: determining a first geographical location and/or country;implementing a first simulated user session having characteristicsassociated with the first geographical location and/or country; creatinga first substantially unique, anonymous connection to the Internet,wherein the connection is simulated to originate from the determinedfirst geographical location and/or country; requesting a search of theat least one search term on the at least one Internet search engine;receiving, from the at least one Internet search engine, search resultscomprising website search hits; identifying at least one of the websitesearch hits that matches at least one website on the target list; andaccessing using the first simulated user session the identified at leastone website through the search results through the first Internetconnection having a simulated origin in the determined firstgeographical location and/or country, without modifying website content,wherein such access without modifying website content affects the atleast one website's position on the Internet search engine's pageranking; and, creating a second simulated user session, wherein creatinga second simulated user session comprises: determining a secondgeographical location and/or country; implementing a second simulateduser session having characteristics associated with the secondgeographical location and/or country; creating a second substantiallyunique, anonymous connection to the Internet, wherein the connection issimulated to originate from the determined second geographical locationand/or country; requesting a search of the at least one search term onthe at least one Internet search engine; receiving, from the at leastone Internet search engine, search results comprising website searchhits; identifying at least one of the website search hits that matchesat least one website on the target list; and accessing using the secondsimulated user session the identified at least one website through thesearch results through the second Internet connection having a simulatedorigin in the determined second geographical location and/or country,without modifying website content, wherein such access without modifyingwebsite content affects the at least one website's position on theInternet search engine's page ranking.
 20. A computer-implemented methodfor affecting a website's position on at least one Internet searchengine's page ranking, the method being implemented in a computer systemcomprising one or more physical processors, the method comprising:loading at least one search term into a program in the simulated usersession; loading a target list comprising at least one website that isto be promoted; creating a first simulated user session, whereincreating a first simulated user session comprises: determining a firstgeographical location and/or country; implementing a first simulateduser session having characteristics associated with the firstgeographical location and/or country; creating a first substantiallyunique, anonymous connection to the Internet, wherein the connection issimulated to originate from the determined first geographical locationand/or country; requesting a search of the at least one search term onthe at least one Internet search engine; receiving, from the at leastone Internet search engine, search results comprising website searchhits; identifying at least one of the website search hits that matchesat least one website on the target list; and accessing using the firstsimulated user session the identified at least one website through thesearch results through the first Internet connection having a simulatedorigin in the first determined geographical location and/or country,without modifying website content, wherein such access without modifyingwebsite content affects the at least one website's position on theInternet search engine's page ranking; and, creating a second simulateduser session, wherein creating a second simulated user sessioncomprises: determining a second geographical location and/or country;implementing a second simulated user session having characteristicsassociated with the second geographical location and/or country;creating a second substantially unique, anonymous connection to theInternet, wherein the connection is simulated to originate from thedetermined second geographical location and/or country; requesting asearch of the at least one search term on the at least one Internetsearch engine; receiving, from the at least one Internet search engine,search results comprising website search hits; identifying at least oneof the website search hits that matches at least one website on thetarget list; and accessing using the second simulated user session theidentified at least one website through the search results through thesecond Internet connection having a simulated origin in the seconddetermined geographical location and/or country, without modifyingwebsite content, wherein such access without modifying website contentaffects the at least one website's position on the Internet searchengine's page ranking.
 21. A tangible computer program product havingexecutable program code stored non-transient therein for affecting awebsite's position on an Internet search engine's page ranking, theprogram code operable for, when executed at a processor of a processorengine coupled to at least one Internet search engine, performing themethod of claim 20.